The Black Swordsman IRL
by Shadowsniper460
Summary: After clearing SAO, Kazuto wakes up and thinks they've been given a second chance after all. Upon finding out Asuna has still not woken up, Kazuto blames himself and falls into an unsteady lifestyle with the soul purpose of getting Asuna back and protecting her. With the help of some old friends and family, Kazuto will stop at nothing to get Asuna back.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. This story is going to see Kazuto/Kirito in a different sort of mindset post SAO, he's going to be a lot more driven and bitter, but that's just to help establish some relationships with the other characters. Hopefully you all enjoy. If not...well I guess you can't say I didn't try. Reviews either way are great.**

 **And the disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online (even if I wish I did).**

 **Ch. 1**

 **Oblivion**

The Skull Reaper let out one last screech before rising its head up and shattering to millions of pieces. The room grew quiet as the congratulations message popped up. There were no cheers, no victory cries. Instead, almost everyone slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Kirito and Asuna were no exception. They sat back to back, leaning on one another for support. Kirito was furious with himself. Here he had sworn he'd protect her yet during the previous battle the only reason he was able to block the scythe was because she had jumped in to protect him. He had failed her, like he always did when people depended on him. He didn't deserve her love.

Kirito clenched his fist and bit his lip. He could feel tears stinging at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He couldn't show weakness, not in front of so many people who looked up to him as a leading frontline player.

"Stop." Asuna said without even turning back around to him.

Kirito was caught off guard. "Stop what?"

"Stop beating yourself up over this. The only reason we won is because we were able to stop the scythe."

Kirito turned his head in shame. "I didn't protect you." He mumbled, barely audible.

"You did, I could never have done that on my own. I would have been killed." She replied.

"I would've been killed if you hadn't of saved me though." Kirito's tears were threatening to spill over now.

Asuna gently turned to face him. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling herself into his neck. "We did it together. We're stronger together, Kirito. That's why where you go, I go. With you I'm not afraid to jump in and fight, I know you'll be there to protect me."

"Asuna…" Kirito wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He didn't know what he did to deserve her, he certainly would never have been able to be with her in the real world. If they ever got back…no when they got back, he'd fix that. He'd be someone she deserved.

"How many did we lose?" Klein asked, bringing Kirito and Asuna back from their own world.

No one moved to respond, so Kirito brought up the menu and opened up the map. He counted the remaining dots. "Fourteen of us died."

"Fourteen? And there's still 25 more floors to go. How are we ever going to make it?" Agil asked in defeat.

"We'll make it." Asuna replied. Her voice was steady and full of resolve. She gripped Kirito's hand and he too felt reassured. "There are still almost 6000 players out there, we can still win this."

"But only a couple hundred of them are a high enough level to fight on the frontlines. And there's still so much more to go. The fights aren't going to get any easier from here." A member of the KOB stated.

"Then we'll train more players if we have to." Kirito responded. "We can't give up now! We've come too far and lost too many people fighting to be free again. I will not let their deaths be in vain."

"We'll keep fighting. We'll stand together and we will win this. We just have to keep believing that we can." Asuna finished.

There was a murmur of agreement and, if only by a little, Kirito thought he could sense everyone's spirits raise. He was never really big on giving speeches, but Asuna was second in command of the KOB, she was a public figure and leader. The two combined telling everyone that they could do it might actually have more weight to it than Kirito had expected. He looked over at Commander Heathcliff. The commander was standing tall among all the other players, seemingly unaffected by the long and grueling battle that had just taken place. Why didn't the commander take charge and speak up along with him and Asuna? Heathcliff almost always let others deal with situations, despite being the leader of the most powerful guild in the game. It was almost as if he was testing the other players, seeing how they could handle all that was thrown at them. Kirito glanced at Heathcliff's health bar and saw it was still in the green. Heathcliff must've felt eyes on him because he turned directly towards Kirito and they locked eyes.

It was only a moment before Heathcliff looked away, but it had been enough to send a chill down Kirito's spine, probably even in the real world. Those eyes hadn't been the look of a leader, those were the eyes of someone observing impassively, uncaring for the subjects in front of him. They were alight with amusement, despite the deaths of several comrades just moments earlier.

The seed of suspicion entered Kirito's mind. Heathcliff couldn't be…no, Kirito couldn't accept that. But even as he tried to convince himself it began clicking into place. Heathcliff ushered his guild along, but he left the majority of the planning and fighting up to the other members. His health had never dropped into the yellow. During their duel, Heathcliff had moved far faster than anyone should have ever been able to, faster than the system should have even allowed. And now, here he was, like a giddy child watching their own science experiment. In a couple of seconds, Kirito was sure of it.

He slowly got to one knee and pulled a sword out discretely and quietly. The only person that seemed to notice was Asuna.

"Kirito, what are you doing?" She asked, concern in her eyes.

Kirito was hesitant for a moment. What if he was wrong? He'd instantly be labeled a criminal player. He'd be shunned at best, more likely thrown in prison. He might be killed by all the players here. Whatever the case may be, he was ready to accept that because he was almost positive he was right. However, if he was wrong, would the others group Asuna in with him? Would she be punished for his actions as well? How would she react towards him, would she understand his logic? One look back at Heathcliff though and Kirito's hesitation was resolved. He was certain.

"Pray I'm right." Was all he said. Then he charged wordlessly.

"Kirito?!" Asuna shouted after him, alerting Heathcliff and the others but it was too late. Kirito entered the starting position for a single hit sword skill, rage spike. It wouldn't kill Heathcliff if Kirito was wrong, but it certainly would knock him into the yellow, and that's what Kirito needed to see.

Heathcliff turned towards Kirito and tried to raise his shield at the last second, but he was too late. Kirito's sword went over the shield and right before it met Heathcliff it met an invisible barrier and his sword skill discharged releasing the attack on to a small purple wall sending blue and purple sparks flying. Everyone was shocked at Kirito's actions, but it was quickly replaced by what Kirito's sword had smashed into.

Where the sword should have met Heathcliff's body was instead a purple barrier that read 'Immortal Object.' Kirito jumped back to put distance between himself and Heathcliff and Asuna was up beside him in a second.

"Immortal Object?" She asked, reading it aloud. "Commander Heathcliff…what is the meaning of this?"

Heathcliff only smiled and locked his eyes on to Kirito, as if daring Kirito to explain it all. Kirito decided to comply. "I think I can explain that." He started. "In the beginning, I wondered where he was, watching us all struggle in his world. Where would he be watching from? But I forgot one of the most basic things." Kirito paused and put his sword back in its sheath on his back. "No one wants to watch someone else play an RPG, so why would he sit out and watch the most intense one out there? The answer's simple. He didn't. He was among us the entire time." Kirito pointed directly at Heathcliff. "Isn't that right, Akihiko Kayaba?"

There were gasps of disbelief all across the room. Asuna took a step towards the commander but Kirito gently grabbed her and pulled her back to him. "Commander Heathcliff…is that true?" She asked, disbelief obvious in her voice. Kirito understood, this was her leader, a man who she had looked up to.

Instead of answering her, Heathcliff merely chuckled. "If you don't mind me asking, what gave me away, Kirito?"

"Our duel. There was a moment where I thought I had you, but you moved way too quick, quicker than should have been possible, even by the game's standards." Kirito responded.

"Ah yes, I was worried you'd noticed that. But then again, I didn't really have a choice but to activate the system's assist. I had underestimated you, you were too fast and I was going to lose. I couldn't allow that to happen, it was necessary for you to join the KOB for them to continue to advance through the game." Heathcliff closed his eyes as he sighed and chuckled again. Then to everyone he said, "Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba, and now that the act is up I suppose it does no harm to tell you all that I am the final boss on the 100th floor."

"No…commander?" Asuna cried out. "How could you?"

Another member of the KOB stood up. "You bastard. We trusted you, looked up to you! You were supposed to lead us to victory, and it was all just a lie!" The player raised his sword and charged at Heathcliff. Without ever taking his eyes off Kirito, Heathcliff pulled up his menu and manipulated several buttons. The player charging him froze in place before falling to the ground.

"What-I can't-I can't move?" He said as he struggled. The paralysis sign was above his health bar. A few more clicks from Heathcliff and all around the room players were falling to the ground from paralysis. Next to Kirito, Asuna went rigid as well.

"Kirito!" She warned. Kirito barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He took a knee and propped her up as comfortably as he could against him. Only he and Heathcliff seemed unfazed by the paralysis.

Kirito glared at Heathcliff. "What now, you just going to kill us all to cover everything up?"

"Of course not, what would be the point of that? It wouldn't be very fair of me, now would it?" Heathcliff responded. "No, I think I'll just go on up to the 100th floor and wait for you all there. I was wanting to build up the KOB a little bit longer to make sure I'd have someone to fight at the end, but I think you all can manage now. After all, you've already surprised me by figuring out my identity so early. There's hope for you all yet."

Kirito could only grimace at Heathcliff's nonchalant response. He truly was a monster.

"I feel like you deserve a reward for figuring it all out though, Kirito. So, I'm going to give you a chance." Heathcliff stated.

"A chance? A chance for what?"

"To fight me, my dear boy. To fight me here and now. Beat me and you clear the game, and everyone goes free. No strings attached."

"Don't do it Kirito!" Asuna pleaded. Kirito looked down at her and saw the concern in her eyes. "It's a trap, if he was going to be the final boss then he was never meant to be fought one on one. Just let him leave. We'll regroup and continue to the top. We'll face him then, all of us. Please, Kirito…"

Kirito looked around the room. Tired faces, full of concern looked back at him. He closed his eyes and he could see everyone who had been hurt by the game, what it had done to them all. Diabel, the Moonlit Black Cats, just a few among thousands who are now dead because of the stupid game. Lisbeth and Silica both having suffered in this world and looking up to Kirito to uphold his promise and free them. Klien, who Kirito had abandoned on the very first day, yet he always there and never held a grudge for it. And what it had done to Asuna, how she had given up on living and returning home on the first floor when he first met her, how she had cried so many times at the thought of losing him, how devastated she was when they lost Yui to the same system that kept them prisoner, and now how the leader she looked up to had simply betrayed all of the trust she put into him. And then what had the game done to Kirito personally. He lost his friends in the Moonlit Black Cats. He had been hated by so many players when he declared himself a Beater just to protect other Beta Testers, and he had to live with that hatred and disgust towards him for so long. He had even become a murderer, having killed three other players, even if it was self-defense. This game had broken him just like everyone else. And he was sick of it.

"I'm sorry, Asuna." He said finally as a tear rolled down his face. "I have to try…"

Asuna tried shaking her head as much as she could given the paralysis she was suffering from. "No, no you don't. Kirito, please. You don't have to do this. We can regroup and keep going up together."

"And if we do then more will die along the way…" He responded. Another tear rolled down his cheek. "There's been enough death and suffering already. At least this way we have a shot, and if I fail, its only one death."

"Kirito, no!" She begged. "What am I supposed to do if you die? I need you with me…please. I love you…"

Kirito gently leaned down and kissed her. It was short and brief, but he tried putting every ounce of love and emotion he could into it. When he broke the kiss he gently pulled at her necklace where Yui's heart was. He took off his wedding band and gently hooked it onto her necklace before letting it rest around her neck again. "If I lose then keep on fighting. For me, for Yui, for everyone. Make it home for me. Please?"

Tears began rolling down Asuna's cheeks. "It's not fair Kirito! Please, don't do this!" But Kirito was already gently laying her down. All around him Kirito heard people shouting for him to stop, to let Heathcliff go, but he wasn't going to listen.

"A touching moment, truly. I always saw myself in you, Kirito, but now I have to say I was mistaken. You care too much." Heathcliff looked around the room and surveyed everyone still lying there. "Before we begin I would like to warn you. While I always pictured you being one of the players to fight me at the end, dual wielding is only one of ten unique skills in the game. It was meant to go to the player with the highest reaction speeds. And while your speed has surprised me time and time again, I do wish for you to realize that you are only one of ten that I was expected to fight in the end. Do you still wish to fight me now?" Heathcliff's tone was almost mocking, daring Kirito.

"Don't do it, Kirito!" Agil's voice rang out.

"It's suicide, man!" Klein added.

Kirito turned back to them both. "Agil, I know you try to act like you're all about the money, but I know you spent every extra coin you had on getting equipment to the lower level players to try and help them level up. You saved a lot of lives and helped boost the frontlines. Thank you for that." Kirito then turned to Klien. "I never understood how you were able to forgive me for leaving you that first day Klien. All I was thinking about was myself, and no matter how rude or short I was with you, you were always so kind and loyal back. Even now. You're a great friend, one I never deserved. I wish I could do it all over again, things could've turned out differently."

"Don't you go apologizing like that now, you hear me! Beat him and then you can buy me a pizza on the other side, then I'll forgive you!" Klien responded, but the tears in his eyes made it evident he was scared and worried for Kirito's sake.

"You got it." Kirito gave him a nod. "Oh, and Klien…"

"Yeah?"

"If I don't make it…look after Asuna for me. Please."

Klien could only nod in response. Kirito turned towards Asuna. She had struggled into a position where she was on her side so she could look at him. Her eyes were pleading with him, but Kirito couldn't turn back now. He had promised her he'd get her out of the game. There was no way he wasn't going to try now.

"Kirito, please…" She tried one last time.

"I love you, Asuna." Was all he could say. She closed her eyes as tears rolled freely down her face. Kirito turned away from her even as tears began to roll down his own cheeks.

In front of him, Heathcliff was smirking. "What a touching goodbye speech, Kirito. I must say it almost brought a tear to my own eye."

Kirito scoffed at him before drawing his swords. Heathcliff's smirk turned into a smile as he too drew his sword. Heathcliff also opened up his menu and with a few clicks a status alert popped up signaling that Heathcliff was now a mortal object. But before Kirito's eyes, Heathcliff's health also filled all the way back up and two more health bars appeared below his normal one. Kirito's eyes went wide.

"I told you, I was the final boss at the end of the game Kirito. I also warned you that there were supposed to be at least nine other players with you when we fought. You wanted to fight me, now you will, but I will not be holding anything back." Heathcliff said.

Kirito just grit his teeth and thought to himself. He knew Heathcliff was Kayaba, which meant he had designed the game. That meant that Kirito wasn't going to be able to use any long combo sword skills, Kayaba would know them and know exactly how to counter them and the cool down would be too long and leave Kirito vulnerable. That meant Kirito was going to have to win on his own skill, with almost no help from the system at all. Kirito adjusted his grip on his swords. Heathcliff had said that Kirito had the fastest reaction time of all the other players, he was going to put that claim to the test.

With a battle cry, Kirito charged. Heathcliff brought his shield up into a guarding position, and Kirito maneuvered to where the shield was blocking Heathcliff's view of him and charged with every ounce of speed he had. As he had expected, Heathcliff was quick to maneuver himself to be able to see Kirito coming, but Kirito had already covered so much ground that Heathcliff had no time to stop Kirito's attack. He swung his Elucidator down catching Heathcliff in the arm before spinning and slashing up Heathcliff's leg and chest with his Dark Repulsor. Heathcliff tried to bash Kirito with his shield as he had in their duel, but Kirito was ready for it. He used the shield as a spring board to jump away from Heathcliff and get out of harm's way.

A few players cheered at Kirito's first successful hit. But Heathcliff seemed unfazed. "Smart move, Kirito, no sword skills. Guess I can expect you not to be foolish enough to try them on me, huh?" Heathcliff chuckled. "Still, it's going to be quite hard for you to drain all of my health without them, now isn't it?"

Kirito looked at Heathcliff's health and saw that despite his two direct hits, Heathcliff's first health bar had only dropped about three percent. Meanwhile, Kirito's own health was already in the yellow just from the boss fight earlier. He was at an extreme disadvantage.

Kirito did a quick glance over his shoulder towards Asuna. He found her eyes and in them he saw fear and panic, but he also saw something else, faith. She believed in him. And that was all he needed.

Kirito looked back at Heathcliff who was staring him down. Kirito charged again, jumping back to where the shield hid him from view. Heathcliff was ready this time though and quickly moved his shield while slashing at the same time. Kirito narrowly missed Heathcliff's blade as he dove into a baseball slide under the sword. As he slid by, He managed a quick swipe with both blades at Heathcliff's legs. Figuring that Heathcliff would think it likely for Kirito to retreat again like he did the first time, Kirito instead went straight back on the attack before Heathcliff could fully turn around. He used a quick three hit combo sword skill with his Elucidator and managed to block Heathcliff's wild thrust with his Dark Repulsor. Heathcliff thrust forward with his shield, but Kirito activated the martial arts skill crescent moon and kicked hard off the shield, throwing Heathcliff away from him as well as pushing Kirito away from harm.

"I must say, Kirito, your array of skills are far greater than I would have originally thought. But how many times do you think you can surprise me? I am the god of this world. I created everything in it." Heathcliff gave Kirito an evil grin. "And I haven't even begun to show you what all I'm capable of." With that Heathcliff's sword started to glow. Kirito crouched down ready to spring into action figuring it must be a dashing sword skill like sonic leap or flashing penetrator, but instead Heathcliff thrust his sword out and didn't move. The light effect of the sword came shooting out at Kirito like a serpent. Kirito's eyes grew wide as he barely had time to jump away. The light effect hit where he was just a split second beforehand and an explosion ripped through the air. Kirito was still relatively close and took damage from the attack. He saw his health decrease. It was only by a small amount but it was enough to send Kirito's heart plummeting. He had taken damage and Heathcliff hadn't even moved to inflict it. Could Kirito honestly beat him at such a disadvantage.

"Aghh!" Several other players cried as the explosion sent their paralyzed bodies through the air. Kirito looked back at them in alarm. Many of them had lost a decent portion of health from being near the blast and being unable to brace or get away from it. Klien and Agil were among them.

Kirito furiously turned back towards Heathcliff. "This battle is supposed to between us! Leave the other players out of it!"

Heathcliff chuckled, "I'm sorry, the attack was meant for you, but you jumped away. I can't help where my attack hits if my target decides to move."

Kirito gripped his swords harder. "Heathcliff-no Kayaba, you're a monster."

Heathcliff again laughed. "The final monster in fact."

Kirito felt rage boil inside him. He took up the position to unleash the dual wielding skill, starburst stream, but as he did he heard Asuan shout, "Don't do it, Kirito! He wants you to use the long skills!"

Kirito caught himself just in time, right before the system recognized the starting position of the sword skill. If he were to engage a long combo sword skill, Heathcliff would be able to anticipate all its moves and counter it. Then Kirito would be a sitting duck, and one good sword skill would be enough to finish Kirito off. He gave a quick glance back at Asuna, hoping to convey his thanks to her in that single look. She nodded her head slightly given that she was still under the paralysis effect. But the simple gesture and her eyes told him so much more. _I'm still here for you. Please be careful. I believe in you, Kirito._

"Tsk, tsk." Heathcliff shook his head. "That was uncalled for Asuna. I don't appreciate you butting into our duel like this."

Kirito saw Heathcliff's antics as a good opportunity to strike, so he charged. Heathcliff wasn't nearly as distracted as he had let on though and was quick to assume a defensive position. He had his shield out in front of him blocking the majority of Kirito's view of him, but Kirito could just barely see the light effect of a sword skill being activated behind the shield. Knowing that Heathcliff was ready to strike at him the moment he got close, Kirito instead slowed down and crossed his swords ready to block the attack.

Heathcliff's sword skill hit its maximum time allotted and the older man swung out from behind his shield only to meet Kirito ready for the attack. Kirito caught Heathcliff's blade between his own and directed it towards the ground. The light effect off the sword flashed as it crashed into the floor and Heathcliff was left exposed by the post motion effect of the sword skill. Kirito wasted no time in taking full advantage of the moment.

"Meteor Fall!" He shouted, throwing his Elucidator into the air and his hand began glowing a bright red as the first hit of the combined martial art/one handed skill activated. Kirito unleashed a savage blow to Heathcliff's jaw, causing the man to stagger back a few steps. Before Heathcliff could recover though, Kirito's Elucidator was back in his hand already glowing for the second hit of the sword skill, a downward slash that caught Heathcliff in the side. Knowing he only had a moment and that he had to time it just right, Kirito let the motion of his second hit take his body with it, adjusting slightly so that his Dark Repulsor was in the starting position for the vorpal strike sword skill. Heathcliff had recovered slightly and moved to block the sword, but the skill was too powerful and smashed the shield away dealing a direct hit to the man. Again, Kirito let momentum carry his body and both his hands into position for the dual wielding skill double arc and both blades began to glow as Kirito did a full 360 slashing Heathcliff with both swords. Knowing that he was pushing his luck, Kirito initiated one last skill to his chained combo. Since he was already spinning he activated the water moon martial arts skill and his right foot lashed out in a powerful round house kick, catching Heathcliff in the stomach and sending him sliding backwards away from Kirito.

Finally, Kirito came to a stop and the post motion effect took hold. Luckily for him though, Heathcliff was too busy recovering to take advantage of the opening. By the time the man had himself gathered and ready, Kirito was already able to move again. It was at that moment that cheers were heard around the room.

"Alright!"

"Show him who's boss!"

"You can do it, Kirito!"

It was all the other players. Then Kirito finally managed to notice why everyone seemed so excited. Heathcliff's first health bar was depleted and already a quarter of his second was gone. Kirito allowed himself to smile just a bit.

"I must say, Kirito, you never cease to amaze me. Chaining together short combo sword skills to keep me from predicting your next move, but also using some of the strongest skills available to inflict maximum damage." Heathcliff brushed his hair from his face casually. "At least you're making it an interesting fight."

Heathcliff's lax tone took all the confidence right out of Kirito. How much longer could he keep this up. There were only so many more options that he could exhaust without having to repeat himself, and Heathcliff was not the type of man who didn't learn from the first time. Kirito wouldn't be able to use the same skills twice. He was running out of ideas.

"Remember how you killed the rabbit!" He heard Asuna call out from behind him.

The rabbit…his throwing picks. He still had three of them located on his back. It was at least something Heathcliff wouldn't expect, but the only skill Kirito knew was single shot, which wasn't going to take a great deal of health from Heathcliff. However, if Kirito played the cards right then maybe it could leave an opening for another chain combo of skills.

His drive renewed, Kirito charged Heathcliff again. The older man's eyes were searching for even the slightest hint of a sword skill's tell-tale sign, but Kirito didn't try to activate one. Heathcliff instead moved to meet Kirito. Just before they met Kirito jumped flipping over Heathcliff's outstretched sword. While in air, Kirito tried to strike out at Heathcliff, but the older man was quick to maneuver his shield and he was able to deflect Kirito's blows. Kirito landed on his feet and instantly turned back to face Heathcliff. The older man was already in the middle of a stab and Kirito was barely able to knock it away. They began exchanging rapid series of blows, but Kirito was never able to land a single hit. Heathcliff's shield blocked the majority of the strikes and Kirito had to be careful where he moved because outside of the shield was Hathcliff's sword ready to strike.

Kirito managed to deflect another attack and follow up with his own, but again Heathcliff's shield was quick to catch the attacks. Knowing he had to do something to present himself another opening, Kirito thought back to the throwing picks Asuna had reminded him of. They wouldn't take much health away from Heathcliff, but maybe…

Kirito jumped back to briefly put space between himself and Heathcliff and simultaneously threw his Elucidator up into the air again, freeing up his right hand. He reached back for his throwing picks, but like he had hoped, Heathcliff mistook the attack as a repeat of the meteor fall skill he used earlier and moved his shield so that it would catch Kirito's fist if he punched. Instead Kirito activated the single shot skill and threw a pick right over the shield straight into Heathcliff's exposed eye. The man gasped at the unexpected move, but more importantly to Kirito, the blind effect appeared next to Heathcliff's health.

Heathcliff was fast to remove the pick from his eye, but in the time it took to do that, Kirito's Elucidator was back in his hand and he attacked as fast as he could with both weapons and no sword skills. The onslaught and stun from the throwing pick was enough to catch Heathcliff off guard and Kirito landed hit after hit on the older man. Heathcliff was able to block a few hit with the shield, but as Kirito wasn't using any sword skills Heathcliff couldn't accurately predict where the next attack was coming from. And Kirito was simply too fast for Heathcliff to keep up with like this.

It seemed like it went on forever, but in reality it was probably less than 15 seconds,, when Heathcliff growled and shouted, "Enough!" His shield took on a yellow glow and he raised it up slightly. Kirito recognized the skill as a shockwave attack that would stun him and he managed to jump into the air a split second before Heathcliff's shield hit the ground. With a brief moment of the older man being caught in the post motion delay, Kirito used the sonic leap skill to close the gap and struck Heathcliff with his Dark Repulsor. The blow caught the man from his left shoulder down to his right hip, but Kirito didn't stop as he initiated the uppercut sword skill with his Elucidator, slashing up Heathcliff on the opposite side and pushing the man away.

The post motion delay was short as both skills were relatively short and weak, so Kirito was able to put distance between himself and Heathcliff quickly before the older man could take advantage of him.

Heathcliff's second health bar was nearly gone now, and the cheers in the room were growing noticeably. Kirito himself was exhausted and he felt like his mind was running on overdrive, but even still he managed a small smile when he saw the disgusted face Heathcliff was making.

"I'm getting tired of this, its lost its amusement now." Heathcliff said from across the room. He raised his sword up and it began to glow with a white light. Kirito readied himself to counter the strike.

"Kirito, look away!" Asuna cried out, but it was too late. Heathcliff didn't move an inch to attack but instead his sword emitted a blinding flash of light and Kirito was blinded by it. Now only seeing white, except for his own health bar, Kirito was left exposed and unable to defend himself. He heard footsteps approaching, heard his name being shouted from several different voices, but he was still unable to do anything as he felt the blade slash through his avatar before getting bashed with the shield as well. Kirito watched as his health dropped from yellow to a dangerously low point in the red. Still under the blinded status effect, Kirito thought he was done for. He could feel Heathcliff's presence, but he couldn't determine the direction of the attack.

"From the left!" He heard Asuna's voice above all the other shouts. For a moment it was like he felt her guiding his hands to cross his swords, and sure enough a moment later he felt Heathcliff's attack smash into his crossed defense, pushing Kirito back and away from the older man.

"Shield, duck!" Kirito dropped low and could feel the attack miss his head by mere inches. "Back!" Kirito threw himself backwards and heard Heatcliff's sword smash the ground right in front of him. "In front of you!" Again, it felt like she was guiding his hands. His right hand slashed up with Elucidator catching Heathcliff's blade. But this time Kirito gambled and initiated the vertical arc sword skill, hoping he would miss Heathcliff's shield. At the last moment Kirito felt an urge to shift the attack slightly. He felt it skim over the shield before landing two consecutive hits on Heathcliff, pushing the man away.

Seconds later, the blind status effect disappeared from next to his health bar and Kirito's vision returned. Heathcliff's face no longer seemed furious and disgusted but it held a look something akin to admiration. Heathcliff, turned his head to look at Asuna, and Kirito followed his example. Somehow Asuna had managed to push herself to where she was on a knee and bracing herself up with her arms, despite her paralysis status effect. Heathcliff chuckled and turned back to Kirito.

"The bond you two share is incredible. Asuna barely spoke enough to let you know I was attacking let alone how to block and attack me back without seeing. It's as if you were able to communicate without needing words. I must say I am impressed." Heathcliff smiled, a genuine smile that didn't hold any hostility. "I'll have to explore your player logs when we're done with this fight. I feel like I might learn something out of this yet." Heathcliff took a breath. "When you're ready, Kirito. I think it's high time to end this."

Kirito still hadn't taken his eyes off Asuna's. There was so much being said between the two of them in that simple look.

 _You're still saving me._

 _I told you, we're stronger together._

 _Together then?_

 _Together, always and forever._

Kirito nodded in response. The conversation taking place in mere seconds with no words exchanged, yet he knew in his heart that it had happened.

As he turned back towards Heathcliff he took stock of his situation again. Heathcliff was down to his final health bar. Kirito felt his heart flutter. Maybe he could do this…no maybe they could do it. Beat him, so all the other players could go free.

Kirito took up his swords in a fighting position. Heathcliff gave him another smile, but this one was back to its original sneering feel. Without warning, Heathcliff thrust his sword out and it glowed white before the room was filled with the blinding flash again. Kirito was just quick enough to close his eyes to keep from suffering the effect again. As soon as he opened them though, Heathcliff was in front of him already in the motion of a stabbing sword skill. Kirito was barely able to deflect the blow away from him. He tried to take advantage of the post motion delay the sword skill should have caused, but Heathcliff moved without hesitation and caught all five blows Kirito swung at him on his shield. Then Heathcliff's shield glowed yellow, and Kirito knew the stun attack was coming. Again, thanks to his quick reactions, Kirito was able to jump into the air and avoid the shockwave. Again, he tried to take advantage of the post motion delay, but Heathcliff moved without hesitation again, blocking every blow Kirito threw at him. Confused, Kirito jumped back several times to get some distance between him and Heathcliff.

"How-" Kirito began.

"His final health bar! He's a boss, he's chaining patterns!" Asuna called out.

"What!? Changing patterns is one thing, but no delay on sword skills is just cheating!" Klein yelled.

"Hardly." Heathcliff offered back. "I was supposed to fight a great majority of you, now how would I possibly hope to succeed if I was left open after using my sword skills?"

Kirito felt a cold shudder run down his spine. Heathcliff's new ability didn't only keep him protected from suffering from any motion delay, but that also meant that Heathcliff just unleashed sword skill after sword skill with no fear of being left exposed.

Confirming his suspicions, Heathcliff's sword began to glow. From this distance Kirito knew it was a ranged skill, and it wasn't glowing white which meant it was the exploding serpent like strike. Kirito was fast to move away even before the skill had left the sword. He was able to escape the blast radius this time, but several of the other players took damage off of it, including Asuna. But as soon as Kirito's feet hit the ground Heathcliff was already releasing another serpent strike. Kirito again, leaped out of the way, but the resulting blast caught the other players helplessly paralyzed again. Kirito realized if he kept this up he would get nowhere and the others would die. He also knew he couldn't keep dodging forever, he'd eventually make a mistake, no matter how fast he may be able to react. No, Kirito knew he had to close in the distance and fight Heathcliff up close to have a chance at protecting everyone.

As Kirito landed again and another serpent strike shot out at him Kirito charged forward and slid beneath it. The strike barely missed his head and exploded behind him where he had been moments before. But Kirito didn't miss a beat and without stopping was back on his feet and coming even closer to Heathcliff. The older man just grinned as Kirito let out a battle cry and began attacking viciously. Heathcliff blocked strike after strike, but Kirito never stopped pressing him. Kirito jumped around charging and sliding anyway he could to try and get an attack in. Every once in a while, Kirito would manage to leave a scratch on Heathcliff. He knew if he could just keep it up eventually he could beat Heathcliff, but the older man was far from helpless. He would lash out at Kirito every chance he got, and Kirito was barely able to avoid the attacks. But even still, Kirito never backed off, he knew he couldn't give Heathcliff even a small chance.

Finally on one strike in particular, Heathcliff's shield glowed purple. Kirito had never seen a shield sword skill other than those used to draw agro from the monsters, but he knew that this was far more dangerous than that. Already in the motion though, Kirito swung both Elucidator and Dark Repulsor down on the shield. The moment the swords smashed into the glowing shield, Kirito felt the strike run all the way up his arms. He heard the sickening sound of metal shattering and the shock wave sent him flying backwards.

He landed on his back and hurried to get to his feet, but quickly realized something was wrong. The sword in his right hand felt far too light. He looked down and saw his Elucidator was shattered just below half way down the blade. He looked in fear at Dark Repulsor and saw that it too was cracked. The sword Liz had made for him had somehow held up, but Kirito knew it couldn't take another blow. Kirito felt an overwhelming sense of dread. He looked up at Heathcliff and saw the yellow glow on the shield but he was too slow. The shockwave attack hit him and although it took almost no health away, Kirito was inflicted with the stun effect, helpless to defend himself. Heathcliff stood over him, his sword glowing a blood red.

"Game over, Kirito." Was all he said as he brought the sword down.

Everything that happened in the next few moments seemed to go by in slow motion. All Kirito could see was the sword coming down towards him, then the light being blocked out by someone else. Kirito felt his heart stop as he instantly recognized it as Asuna. Pain was barely registered on a physical level in the game, but the moment the blade caught Asuna, Kirito felt as if he really had been stabbed. Every part of his body cried out in shock and Kirito could only watch as the attack went clean through his Asuna. She was only up on her feet for a second before she began to fall backwards. Kirito, now free from the stun effect, was able to catch her before he hit the ground.

"Asuan!?" He cried out, looking helplessly at her. He watched her health bar drop until there was nothing left. Then a faint beep and it disappeared completely.

"I'm sorry…Kirito." She whispered.

"No…Asuna. Why?"

"I'm glad…we met…we fell in love…I was finally happy."

Tears streamed freely down Kirito's face. "I can't go on without you!"

Asuna just smiles back at him. Her body began to glow. She raised one of hands to his cheek. "Promise me you'll beat him. For everyone."

"I don't care about winning if you're not-"

"Everyone still needs you." Asuna's body glowed brighter. "Be the hero I know you are." Asuna's body shattered into shards that spread and disappear. "I love you, Kirito." Came her voice from all around the room, but it was distant and fleeting. Her Lambent Light dropped to the ground, the only remainder of Asuna the Lightning Flash. Kirito stared at his now empty arms. A pain far greater than he had ever known had washed completely over his body and yet at the same time he felt empty.

"Well, that was quite a surprise." Heathcliff said, breaking the silence. "I'm not quite sure how she broke through the paralysis. I was certain I made sure there was no way a player could override my paralysis." He chuckled. "Oh well, I suppose it happened. All the more reason to look at both of your player logs after we finish this up. So what do you say, Kirito? Are you ready to finish this and join your beloved in oblivion?"

Kirito felt something inside of him snap. The emptiness inside of him was replaced by rage. "You monster…" He whispered. "I'll kill you…" He picked up Asuna's Lambent Light in his right hand, replacing his broken Elucidator. He looked up at Heathcliff and for the first time since their fight began Heathcliff's face showed signs of fear when they met Kirito's eyes. Without further warning, Kirito launched himself at Heathcliff with so much force it made a cracking noise as if creating a sonic boom. Heathcliff raised his shield to defend himself as Kirito swung with all his might with the Dark Repulsor. The sword glowed blood red as the vorpal strike sword skill was initiated. It slammed into Heathcliff's shield and the sound of metal shattering again filled the room. This time however, both Kirito's sword and Heathcliff's shield shattered.

Heathcliff tried to lash out with a sword skill, but Kirito blocked it with Asuna's rapier before hauling off and punching Heathcliff with his now swodless left hand. The older man tried to jump back and put some distance between them, but Kirito followed him in an instant. He lashed out with a violent stab with Lambent Light, but Heathcliff managed to knock it away. Kirito followed up by initiating the embracer martial arts sword skill and stabbed his empty left hand through Heathcliff's chest.

Heathcliff tried to get away again, but Kirito continued to press him. They exchanged a small series of blows, but without his shield, Heathcliff was losing the fight and slowly his health was being chipped away.

In a desperate attempt to get end the fight Heathcliff used the serpent strike sword skill from earlier directly at the ground between him and Kirito. The resulting blast knocked both men back. Kirito's health dropped to below three percent, but Heathcliff's was also in the red now. Time seemed to slow down. Kirito watched as Heathcliff raised his sword and it began to glow again preparing another exploding serpent strike. Kirito knew he wasn't going to survive the fight, he couldn't take another hit. The blast would kill him.

 _I believe in you._

Her voice sounded so clear in his head. He gripped her sword tightly in his hand. He had no skills when it came to the rapier, but he refused to let it stop him. Defying the system, Kirito took the position of Asuna's favorite skill, the Flashing Penetrator. The rapier glowed green and Kirito lunged forward. The sonic boom from the skill sounded all throughout the room and Kirito plunged the rapier through Heathcliff.

"Game over." Was all Kirito said to the surprised Heathcliff before the serpent strike skill fired off directly into Kirito standing directly in front of Heathcliff. Then the blast enveloped both of them and everything went white.

Lisbeth was working in her shop on a weapon for a young girl named Silica she had just met when she heard the chiming of the bells. She was curious, why would it be signaling at such an odd hour? She and Silica shared a look before rushing outside to see several other players looking up into the sky. They followed their eyes to see a message that said system alert flashing above them. Then the voice came from everywhere.

"On November 7th at 2:55 P.M. the game has been cleared." Lisbeth and Silica both look at each other in shock. "I repeat the game has been cleared."

"How? We were only on the 75th floor." Someone close by said.

Lisbeth was about to question it herself when Silica spoke up. "Kirito did it, didn't he?" She asked to no one in particular. Her dragon Pina seemed to agree though.

Lisbeth was even more shocked at the mentioning of Kirito. She had no idea that Silica even knew him, but she found herself nodding her head in agreement. "He's the only one who could pull something this crazy off." She said, a tear rolling down her face.

She and Silica both look at each other again and smile.

"All players will now be logged out. Standby." The voice said again.

Liz and all the other players began to glow. Somehow Liz was sure of it, Kirito had beaten the game. "You did it, didn't you?" She asked, knowing the answer. She smiled once again as the world around her disappeared.

Kirito opened his eyes and saw clouds and an orange sky all around him. It was as if there was no floor below him, just some invisible platform.

 _Am I dead?_ He thought to himself.

He swiped his fingers in the motion to bring up the game menu and sure enough, the menu pulled up. But instead of the normal window, now the only thing there was something that said final phase and had a percentage climbing up towards 100. He had no idea what it could possibly mean. He was supposed to be dead.

"Kirito?" He heard from behind him.

For a moment he froze. But slowly he turned around. Standing a few meters away from him was Asuna. He wasn't able to say anything at first, only able to drink in the sight of her. Finally he asked to make sure. "Asuna?"

Instead of answering, Asuna sprinted towards him and nearly tackled him in a hug. He was quick to hug her back, nuzzling her head into his neck and wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"I thought I'd never see you again." He said.

"But how…I died, Kirito. Why are you here too?"

Kirito pulled away and looked at her, a small sad smile on his face.

"You died too?" She asked. "You dummy." She added, but she didn't actually have any malice behind it. Instead she just pulled herself closer to him again.

"We did it though." He whispered softly to her.

"What?" She asked.

"The game. We beat it. We beat him."

"But…if you're here then how-"

"Call it a draw I guess."

Asuna laughed softly. "You're the hero then. I knew you were."

"No, we did it. Together." He pulled away slightly to look into Asuna's eyes. They were shining with love and admiration. He leaned down and kissed her gently. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. When they finally pulled away it was only enough to rest their foreheads against each other, their noses still touching.

After several moments like that, Kirito took hold of Asuna's hand and began looking around again.

"So where are we?" He asked.

Asuna looked around too and pointed off into the distance, "Look."

Kirito looked in the direction she indicated and saw Aincrad floating in the distance. It seemed to be breaking apart from the bottom.

"It's really over then, isn't it?" Asuna asked.

"Indeed it is." Came a voice from off to the side of them. They both turned and were shocked to see Kayaba standing there in a white lab coat.

"Kayaba?" Kirito asked, still in disbelief.

Kayaba looked over at them. "I was beaten. I up held my end of our deal."

"Then the other players?" Asuna asked.

"They were logged out before I initiated the final phase. The remaining 6,145 players should be waking up in the hospital any moment now."

"And those that died?" Kirito asked, though he knew the answer.

"Dead. Gone from both this world and the real world."

"Why?" Asuna asked.

"I asked myself that many times. In the end I think it was to see something surpass the system I had created. Originally I just wanted to build my floating castle I had dreamed of for so long. Then I wanted to rule over it and control every aspect. But as time went on I was drawn to the people, the individual players. I watched them adjust to my world. I watched them as they somehow made my own system turn against itself-"

"Yui." Kirito said in realization.

"And I watched as the players rose above my every expectation. You two both showed me that there is power beyond the system. Kirito, you should never have been able to beat me, even during our fight the system was on my side, but you overcame it and even forced it to work for you. And Asuna, it should have been impossible for you to move under the paralysis, yet you were still able to stand between me and Kirito." Kayaba turned his gaze back into the distance. "People were always a mystery to me. Codes, systems, computers, science, those came easy to me and made sense. People, emotions, love, those were things I was always confused with. But now…" Kayaba looked back at them. "Now I think I might finally understand. Thank you."

Kirito and Asuna both just nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"So now what?" Kirito asked.

"Now…now I think it's time for me to leave." Kayaba started to walk away but paused. Without looking back over his shoulder he said, "Congratulations on clearing the game, Kirito, Asuna." And then he faded away.

Kirito looked around again and saw Aincrad was over halfway destroyed. He sighed. "It'll be over soon, won't it?" He asked Asuna.

She squeezed his hand but instead of answering she asked, "What's your real name?"

Kirito was taken by surprise. "My real name?"

Asuna just smiled at him. "Your real name. I want to know the name of the man I fell in love with."

Kirito smiled at her. "It's Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya. I turned 16 last month."

Asuna smiled. "Kazuto, huh. And you are younger than me." She laughed light heartedly and Kirito decided if this was the end for him then he was okay with it so long as he'd be with her till then. "My real name is Asuna Yukki. I'm 17."

Kirito and Asuna both hear a loud rumble and turn to see the top of Aincrad crumble away and disappear. The world around them began to glow.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you." Kirito said and hung his head in shame.

Asuna just shook her head. "Don't be, I'd rather be here with you, till the very end. This way, even after its over we'll disappear together."

Kirito reached out and pulled her close to him. "Forever and always, then?"

They both begin to shine brightly and Kirito knows there are only seconds left. Asuna reaches up and kisses him one more time.

"Forever and always." The world around them ceases to exist as everything fades to white. "I love you, Kazuto." He heard one last time before it all faded away to black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second Chapter. A little bit behind the schedule I was trying to set for myself, but hopefully I'll be able to update relatively often. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated. If you have questions or suggestions I'll do my best to get back with you.**

 **I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **Ch. 2**

 **Awakening**

His eyes opened slowly and the light was blinding. Was he in heaven? Could he find Asuna here then? But slowly he became aware of the rest of his surroundings too. It smelled sterile in the air, the blinding light was coming from the fluorescent bulbs above him, and he could hear a constant beeping beside him. He tried to move, but it was if his body refused to acknowledge his commands. His head felt heavy. He could tell something was on it. He went to try and take it off, but as he struggled to lift his hand and it came into view, Kazuto was shocked. It looked sickly, almost taking on a gray tint. It was weak and feeble looking.

It was at that moment that he realized he wasn't dead. He was awake in the hospital. The heavy thing on his head was the NerveGear. He had somehow survived dying in the game, maybe he had been spared for beating it? Did that mean…

Adrenalin and energy coursed through him, and despite his bodies desperate pleas to relax, Kazuto forced himself into a seated position. He fumbled with the strap on his NerveGear until he felt it come undone. Pulling it off Kazuto felt a great deal of hair come tumbling out. He didn't even bother thinking about it though. He held the NerveGear in his hands for a moment, and briefly he thought about all the time and lives lost because of it, but he pushed those thoughts away and set the NerveGear down without another thought. He couldn't focus on anything other than her…he needed to find her, to make sure she was okay. He needed to find Asuna.

He tried to stand, to move his legs, but it was of little use. His entire body cried out in pain. He cursed himself, his body had deteriorated so much from being stuck in the hospital for over two years, but on top of that he had always been a weak and frail person because of the lifestyle he lived even before SAO. He was always weak, that's why he couldn't face his cousin/sister in the past, that's why he had quit Kendo, that's why he ran to hide himself in gaming, the reason he had abandoned Klein during the beginning of SAO, why he had let the Moonlit Black Cats die, and why he Asuna ended up having to sacrifice herself to help him beat the game. He refused to be weak anymore.

With an immense amount of pain, Kazuto swung his legs over the side of the bed. He reached out and grabbed the IV stand next to the bed and held on to it with every ounce of strength he had. He put his feet to the ground and forced himself to stand up.

"Aghh!" He cried out in pain as his legs instantly tried to give out on him. He held himself up with the IV stand though, and with another burst of will, Kazuto forced his legs to stand again. Already he could feel his body covered in sweat and his breath came in ragged gasps. The heart monitor he was still hooked up to was going crazy, but he ignored it. He didn't have the time to worry about himself now, he needed to find her, whatever it took and with that thought he began to push himself forward. He felt slight resistance as he got closer to the door as his monitors were still hooked to him, but after a few more steps his monitor patches fell off of him and the beeping turned in to a long wail as it no longer detected his heart beat.

Once he made it to the door he struggled to push it open, but when he finally did he was greeted by numerous nurses and doctors running around in a frenzy. He could hear them all yelling and shouting about patients all waking up, and Kazuto was able to figure out that they must be talking about the other SAO players. It filled him with hope. If he was alive, if the others were alive…then she had to be alive too. She had to be…he needed her to be.

He barely made it three steps out of his room when a nurse spotted him among the chaos. "Hey, someone help me, we got one up and out of bed!" She shouted as she ran over to him. Two more nurses were quick to follow, one male and the other another female.

They began to try and usher Kazuto back into his room, but he shook his head.

"C'mon kid, you're in no condition to be up." The male nurse said.

"We've already contacted the families, I'm sure yours will be here soon, just hang in there okay?" Another said.

"A-ana" He tried to speak, but his tongue and voice refused to work correctly.

The nurses basically picked him up and gently put him back in his room. "Your family will be here soon, okay?" The original nurse tried reassuring him again.

"Asna…" He tried again, desperate for them all to understand.

"What is he trying to say?" The nurse asked one of the other ones standing around them.

"Asu…na…Yu-Yukki?" He tried again.

"…Asuna?" One of the nurses repeated back to him.

Kazuto nodded his head. "Y-Yukki." He repeated. He saw all the nurses exchange looks, but he continued, "Al-alive?"

"You're okay, Mr. Kirigaya. You made it back, you're aliv-"

Kazuto shook his head fiercely instantly making his head pound in pain. "Asu-na…alive?" He tried again.

Again, the nurses exchanged looks before looking back down at him. "We don't know, and we can't talk about other patients…I'm sorry."

"Need to…need to see-" He began saying as he tried pushing himself back up.

"Hey, Mr. Kirigaya, please you need to stay in bed!" The nurses said as they tried to restrain him. Despite his frail body, Kazuto fought back against them. He knew he couldn't win, but he refused to stop trying. He had to see her.

"We need to get him under control." One of the nurses said before shouting out of the room, "We got one who's fighting, he's going to hurt himself unless we put him out!"

Realizing what the nurse meant Kazuto redoubled his efforts to fight back and get up, but his body couldn't stand up against the nurses holding him down. Before he knew it another individual rushed in holding a needle.

"This is just for your own good Mr. Kirigaya." One of the nurses said as the needle injected him with the liquid inside. It was only a few moments before all the fight left his body and his eyelids became too heavy to keep open.

He fought it with all his might, but the darkness overtook him quickly.

The next time Kazuto came to the back of his bed had been raised so he was in a reclined seated position. He immediately tried to get up, but discovered his hands were bound to the sides of the bed. He struggled for a moment but quickly realized it was hopeless, he wasn't going to get out himself.

"Sorry for that, Kirigaya. The nurses looking after you insisted it was for your own safety." Came a voice from beside Kazuto. He looked over to discover a dark haired man with glasses and a suit was seated next to the bed. In his lap was a tablet that had an acronym on the back of it, MIAC. Kazuto couldn't remember what the acronym stood for, but he quickly realized this man as a government official. Why was he here?

"I was informed that you were able to talk…at least a little bit? Hopefully your vocal cords have had some time to rest after your exertion from earlier. Maybe it'll be a bit easier for you to talk?" The man asked.

Kazuto started at him suspiciously. "Who…?" He gestured at the man with his head.

The man smiled. "Fantastic, we might actually get somewhere with this conversation." The man set the tablet down next to him. "My name is Seijirou Kikuoka. I'm with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the VR world division."

Kazuto nodded his head. He had heard of that ministry, but he didn't know there was a VR world division. "Didn't know…that was…that was a thing." Kazuto said. He did find it easier to talk now, but it still wasn't easy.

Seijirou Kikuoka laughed, "Yes, well its quite new actually. The whole SAO incident kind of spurred the entire thing off you see." Kazuto nodded again. That made sense. However, Kazuto was not ready to sit around and waste time with the man, he still needed to find out what happened to Asuna.

"Let…m-me out of these." Kazuto said while gesturing at his arms.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Not yet at least. I need to speak with you and from what I understand you seem to want to run away as soon as your free-"

"I'm not…not running aw-away." Kazuto struggled to say. "I-I need to-"

"Look for Asuna Yuuki, no doubt." Kikuoka interrupted, catching Kazuto off guard and shocking him, "Funny that she should use her real name for her in game avatar, I understand that is not normal practice. But then again, from what her family told me she was never much of a gamer before. You spent a great deal of time with her in the past month, didn't you, Kirito? Is that the reason you're so hell bent on finding her now?"

"How-how do you-"

"Like I said, I'm part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and I was heading up the entire SAO incident. You see, I had access to the player logs, that's the only way we were able to keep up with what was going on inside the game. I could tell where people were located, but that was about it. I took a special interest in the "front line" players as we began to refer to them as. You and miss Yuuki were a part of them. However, you two also started remaining in the same locations during the late nights and throughout the day, suggesting there may have been more companionship between you two than just fellow front liners."

"You…you we-were watching us?" Kazuto asked.

"Monitoring. Like I said, I could only review the logs which showed very little to us on our end."

"Why?"

"Because you two were among the top tier players, as far as level went. You stuck out from the beginning, playing solo for the most part. But then you were with her for a great deal of time. Logically we were drawn to this."

"But…why are you here now?"

"Well, I was hoping you could enlighten me about what happened inside the game, Kirito."

Kazuto shook his head. "There are over 6,000 other players you could be questioning right now-"

"And rest assured, my department is getting a debrief from them. However, I had you pegged as one of the best players in the game, and you were there in the end. You stayed logged on even after the others had been let go. You probably know more than anyone else in the game, and that is why I came to see you in person." Kikuoka stated.

"I don't want to talk about the game, I want to-"

"Information regarding anything that happened during SAO is kept completely confidential. No one knows anything about the players. Your own family doesn't even know your avatar's name, nor that you were a front line player."

Kazuto narrowed his eyes at Kikuoka. "What is that supposed to mean to me?"

"I have information that you might find of use, Kirito. In turn, you have information that I could use. You might have miss Yuuki's name, but you don't know where she lived, you don't know her family, or what hospital she might be in." Kikuoka gave Kazuto a pointed look. "In essence, Kirito, you have no way of finding anything out about miss Yuuki."

Kazuto felt rage boil inside of him, but he knew Kikuoka was right. His best and fastest option for finding Asuna was to work with Kikuoka. "I tell you what you want to know, and then you're going to tell me everything you can about Asuna."

"You have my word, Kirito-"

"Stop calling me that." Kazuto said.

Kikuoka tilted his head in confusion. "I simply figured after being in the game for so long, maybe that name would be easier for you."

"That's a name only my friends from SAO call me. The people I fought beside. You shouldn't use it like you know me." Kazuto said, tired of the way Kikuoka was acting with him.

Kikuoka just laughed. "Very well, Kirigaya, I'll stop."

"Now…what do you want to know?"

Kikuoka leaned forward and the light caught his glasses, making them bright and hiding his eyes from Kirito, "I want you to tell me everything…from the beginning."

Several hours later, Kazuto had told Kikuoka almost everything he could about SAO. He left out a great deal of parts in regards to things like Yui, but Kikuoka asked about several incidents he would have rather kept to himself, including the Moonlit Black Cats and the incident where Kazuto and the other front liners had attacked Laughing Coffin. He had just finished telling him about the battle with Heathcliff and informed him who Heathcliff really was, but he left out the conversation he and Asuna had with Kayaba after the duel. Kikuoka seemed to not have any idea about that encounter, and Kazuto would just assume keep it that way.

"So Kayaba was indeed masquerading around as the player Heathcliff, huh? I had begun to expect it, he was the only avatar that I could not match with any individual we were monitoring. Unfortunately we had no way to confirm it and even if we did there was no way to alert you and the other players about him."

"Yeah…"

"And so that's it then? Nothing else?" Kikuoka asked.

Kazuto stared back at him. "We beat the game, he let us go."

"Yes…but technically you died…so why were you still able to make it back, I wonder?" Kikuoka asked himself. "He made an exception for you."

Kazuto felt a sudden panic rise in his chest. "He made an exception for us! That's what you meant, isn't it?!"

Kikuoka gave Kazuto an empty smile. "I suppose I should fulfill my end of the deal now, yes?" He asked, not answering Kazuto's desperate plea. "Asuna Yuuki is still alive. However, unlike you, she hasn't woken up."

Kazuto felt like his world had just collapsed on him. She wasn't awake…she hadn't made it back yet? "How long does it take for everyone to wake up?" Kazuto asked, his voice pleading.

"Aside from you, everyone woke up at the exact same time. However, 300 players, including Asuna have not woken up yet, but they are very much still alive."

"How long does it take before the NerveGear-"

"In all the past deaths, the NerveGear fired off the microwaves within ten seconds after in game death as far as we could tell from the player logs. I don't think that they're in danger of dying just yet."

"What do you mean just yet?"

"Well, we're looking into what the possible implications could be, however we have no real lead as of yet. Rest assured we are working around the clock to-"

"You have to get them out!" Kazuto shouted.

"We're doing everything that we can from our side, but-"

"Please, she has to be okay!"

"We are doing everything that we can Kirigaya." Kikuoka stated firmly, silencing Kazuto. "Now, I will look into the details regarding Ms. Yuuki, and see if her family would be okay with letting you visit her. In the meantime, I think you should enjoy your victory. Your family is waiting for you, and I think we have kept them waiting long enough." Kikuoka stood up and grabbed his tablet. As he reached the door he turned around and said, "I'll send your family in as soon as I leave. I'm sorry about the situation with Ms. Yuuki. I'll try and keep you updated as much as possible."

Kazuto didn't answer at first. He just stared blankly in front of him. Finally he said, "I failed her."

Kikuoka looked at him curiously. "Failed her?"

"I was supposed to protect her. She was supposed to make it back…or we were supposed to go together. I-I failed her again. I failed her again, and again, and again!"

"You saved thousands of lives as Kirito and you made it back. We'll find a way to get Ms. Yuuki and the others back too. Just be patient." With that Kikuoka left.

Kazuto stared at the ceiling. He had failed her again. Kikuoka had just left calling him a hero, but he wasn't. Kirito the black swordsman was a failure. He failed his first friend in SAO on day one, he failed his guild, he failed Yui, and he failed Asuna. He was no hero. He was weak and powerless. He couldn't protect anyone he cared for.

"Kazuto!" He heard a familiar voice shout, breaking him from his thoughts. It was his sister (cousin) Suguha. Behind her were his adoptive parents, his aunt and uncle. They all ran into the room and engulfed him in a massive hug.

There was a mix of murmurs of how much they missed him, and how he had missed them, how worried they were, and how glad they were to have him back.

Their eyes were red with tears, and the looks on their faces were absolutely filled with relief. Although he had a smile on his face on the outside, he felt something snap within. Right now, while he was reuniting with his family, his Asuna was somewhere far away. Her family wasn't gathered around with relief, they were still without their daughter. Because he failed to bring her back.

At that moment, he swore to himself, he would never fail to protect his loved ones again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry everyone, I've been busy with finals and the military. Hopefully I can get back into a steady writing schedule now that things are finally starting to slow down again. This chapter is a little bit all over the place in a short amount of time and its very** **dialog heavy as its a lot of character development. Bare with me on it. We'll get to some more fast paced stuff as soon as we get the ground work laid.**

 **I do not own Sword Art Online.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **Ch. 3**

 **Moving Forward**

Kazuto heaved a deep breath out, he was coated in sweat despite it still being cold outside. As he struggled to bring himself back to a standing position, Suguha looked uneasily at him.

"Kazuto, maybe you should rest for a bit long-"

"Just one more Sugu…please." Kazuto asked as he finally managed to stand up. Suguha sighed, but came to his side anyway, she had already learned the hard way that he would try it with or without her.

With her at his side though, Kazuto forced himself to walk forward. Every time he began to wobble or fall, Sugu would catch him and keep him upright. They made it all the way around the yard before finally coming to a stop on the back porch where they had started. Sugu helped ease Kazuto back down to a seated position before she joined him. It had been only been a week since Kazuto had been released from the hospital, which was only three days after he had woke up along with all the other players. He was told to rest and take it easy to keep his body from straining, but Kazuto refused to stand idle. That's why he was doing laps around the yard with Suguha now, he wanted to recover faster.

Breathing hard, Kazuto glanced over at Suguha. She wore a worried expression on her face. He put on a pained smile and said, "Thanks, Sugu. Wouldn't be able to do any of this without you."

Suguha titled her head to the side and gave him a long stare. She finally replied, "I'm not so sure that I should really be helping you do these exercises, Kazuto." She walked over to him and felt his head with the back of her hand. Her hand felt cool against his clammy skin. "You're still supposed to be on bed rest."

Kazuto shook his head as she pulled her hand away. "I can't keep sitting there Sugu." He said.

"Kazuto, this is serious."

"And so am I…" Kazuto stared hard at his younger sister/cousin. "After everything…I'm not use to sitting around is all. I have to-no I need to keep myself busy."

Suguha was quite for a minute. She sat down next to her brother and put her hand on his shoulder. It still felt slender and malnourished beneath her hand. He looked that way overall though, two and a half years spent lying in a bed wasting away while he was out doing who knows what in a fantasy realm. She could only imagine how different it had to be for him now. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kazuto let his shoulders sag as he exhaled deeply. He looked at Suguha guiltily. "Not yet…I still need some time to think about and…" he trailed off without finishing. _Wait for Kikuoka to give me news about Asuna, wait till I can see her for myself,_ was what he wanted to say, but he still wasn't ready to tell his family yet. They had tried getting him to open up about his time in SAO, even suggest going to therapy, but Kazuto couldn't face it. He felt like he was still trapped, his soul was still stuck somewhere, wherever his Asuna was now. He hadn't found his way home yet, and he feared he never would. But his family was understanding. They didn't push him. They tried giving him his space, and Suguha put up with all his nonsense and although she asked him about SAO occasionally, she never pushed him for details.

"Well if you're ever…no when you're ready, I'm here for you."

"I know, Sugu."

Suguha stood and brushed herself off. "Now c'mon, we need to get you back into the house and get you cleaned up and back in bed before mom and dad get home. Otherwise we'll both get chewed out."

Kazuto managed a real smile, "Yeah, I can't have you getting in trouble for me now can I?" He reached out and took Suguha's outstretched hand and she helped him inside.

Kikuoka stood in Asuna's hospital room. Asuna's father was in the room looking at his daughter. She lay peacefully in the bed, though her skin was pale and her hair looked like it had been trimmed unevenly while she slept. Mr. Yuuki gently squeezed his daughters hand.

"Why should I let this man see my daughter?" Mr. Yuuki asked.

"Well, sir, with all due respect I'm not at liberty to discuss-"

"Please don't go there, Kikuoka." Mr. Yuuki interrupted. "You say you're not at liberty to discuss the details, yet I have a feeling you did disclose some of my family's personal matters to this boy you're talking about. I'm simply asking why I should let him see my daughter."

Kikuoka, sighed. "In his debriefing it was revealed that the boy and your daughter were very close to one another."

"Very close? How am I supposed to take that?"

"They were married in game."

"What?" Mr. Yuuki asked in disbelief.

"Your daughter and Kirigaya were married in game. This was confirmed by several other players upon their debriefing, and I can confirm that they spent almost all their time with one another for a the vast majority of the last month or so in the game based on the player logs. So I assure you, the Kirigaya isn't lying about his relationship with your daughter."

Mr. Yuuki just stared at his daughter for a few moments in silence. "Married. What did that mean in the game?"

Kikuoka cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The only way the game recognized marriage was with shared inventory. That and it gave both players wedding rings to wear to symbolize the marriage."

"How did they…did they stay together?" Mr. Yuuki asked.

"I'm afraid I can't-"

"Bullshit! Even if the boy didn't tell you that, you would know based on their player logs! I just want to know what this boy meant to my daughter."

Kikuoka sighed and readjusted his glasses. "Your daughter tended to spend her time with other females if she was alone, and the rest of the time was always within her guild which we learned she was second in charge of."

"So was this man in her guild? Was it something to do with-"

"The only exception to your daughters behavior was the time she spent with Kirigaya. He was not part of her guild, yet she seemed to seek him out whenever she had free time. And given his point of playing solo instead of joining a guild, that was a feat for her to go and do."

Mr. Yuuki took his daughters hand again. "She went after him, you say?"

"Another player that was supposedly close to your daughter, which I can also confirm through their player logs, confirmed that when she was debriefed, although she did mention that in the end it was Kirigaya that proposed to her."

"During the nights…what all would the game allow you to do?"

"Mr. Yuuki with all do respect-"

"Based on what my developers have been able to discern about the Cardinal system from when I took over its servers, there was an anti-harassment code set and a sort of player safe code that prevented sexual actions, but it seemed it could be turned off with the players consent."

 _Oh, Kirito, I'm not sure you really want to come see her after all. I'm not sure you're ready for her father._ Kikuoka thought to himself before answering with, "Yes, I can confirm that there was a system in place, but it was able to be turned off with both players consent."

"Did that action show up in the players log?"

Kikuoka sighed again. "Yes, it did."

"Did-"

"Yes sir, your daughter had turned hers off for Kirigaya."

"How dare he even ask her to-"

"Your daughter was the one that initially turned hers off and sent the system request for him to do it was well, sir." Mr. Yuuki mouth fell open. Kikuoka continued with, "And she did it multiple times."

After dinner, Suguha helped Kazuto back upstairs and into his room. She left once he was settled in bed for the night and returned down stairs. Kazuto set in the darkness in silence. He let his mind drift back to Aincrad, everything he had lost and failed to do, and eventually tears came to his eyes. He looked over at the NerveGear and for a second he longed to still be trapped in Aincrad. He wished he had taken Asuna's advice and retreated instead of fighting Heathcliff. He knew it was wrong to think that because he had saved many lives by making that stand, but now he was here, alone and without Asuna and he would give anything to be back with her. He struggled out of his bed and grabbed the NerveGear. He stared at it for a long time before crumbling to the floor and crying.

His door opened. "Kazuto!" Suguha ran into the room and forced her brother to look at her. "Are you-"

"I'm okay, Sugu." Kazuto answered before she finished. He wiped his tears away. "I just…"

Sugu wrapped him in a hug and held him tightly. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just glad you're okay."

Kazuto let a few more tears run down his face. "I think I'm broke, Sugu."

Sugu pulled away from him enough to look him in the eyes. "No, you're not. You went through hell, you're going to-"

"But I was just thinking about what I would give to go back."

Suguha stared at her brother for a second before dropping her hug and getting a hurt expression. "Why would you say that?" She raised her voice. "We lost you for two and a half years, Kazuto. Do we not mean anything to you?"

Kazuto shook his head. "Its not that Sugu. I'm glad to be back, I really am. I missed you all so much, and I thought about you guys all the time."

Suguha took a few breaths to calm herself down. Finally she asked, "Then why do you want to go back?"

Kazuto shifted so his back was against his desk. He hung his head in shame. "I miss someone."

Suguha scooted over and joined her brother leaning against the desk. "Who? Maybe we can find them?"

Kazuto shook his head. "She didn't make it back."

Those words tore through Suguha like a knife. She felt like she finally understood why her brother was so hell bent on recovering, and why he was so tore up on the inside, and why he didn't want to share anything about the game. She still tried to comfort him by saying, "It couldn't have been your fault, Kazuto."

"It was." He said. "She took a hit that was meant for me."

The weight of his words came crashing down on Suguha hard. Based on her experience in the VRMMO games (which she was still saving to tell Kazuto about another time), she knew how heavy it was to lose a friend who was trying to protect you, but in her cases, her frined would just suffer an experience point loss and reappear in one of the friendly towns. But if what he said was true, and she knew it was, then someone had given their life to make sure her brother had a chance.

After thinking that over in silence, Suguha finally said, "Sounds like she cared a lot about you."

Kazuto let out a pained laugh but fresh tears sprung into his eyes at the same time. "She did." Kazuto looked back over at the NerveGear. "And I cared about her."

"Well, whoever she is, I'm sure she wouldn't want to see you sitting here crying about it. She'd want you to make the most of life, wouldn't she?"

Kazuto let a genuine smile touch his face. "Yeah, she'd probably attack me for acting like this."

Suguha let out a small laugh herself. "Well I'll do it for her if I see you moping around again, okay?"

"Thanks, Sugu." Kazuto said. "I needed to hear that."

"That's what I'm here for, right?" She said as she helped him back up and into bed. "Now get some sleep, you're going to need it for tomorrows laps around the yard."

Kazuto laughed, "Sounds good to me. Goodnight, Sugu."

"Goodnight, Kazuto." She said as she left his room. Once she shut the door she allowed herself to lean against the wall and slide to the ground. She wasn't sure to what extent the woman and her brother had cared for one another, but she was certain that it went a lot deeper than just friends. And that made sense why he was so hell bent on getting better and becoming stronger, he felt like he had failed her. But even though everything Sugu had learned led her to realize how tragic his loss was, she was also secretly relieved that he had finally talked to her about it.

She stared up at the ceiling and said, "Thank you, whoever you were, for saving my brother." She felt tears stinging behind her eyes, but she managed a smile and got to her feet. "I'll make sure he keeps going." Then Sugu left for her own room.

Asuna sat with her back to the cage's bars, facing the door. The only contact she had so far had been when a few people would bring her trays of food. She wasn't sure at first, but she suspected she was still in a video game, though it wasn't SAO and she had no access to a menu. Looking in a mirror hung over the bed in the cage revealed that she had pointed ears further convincing her that it was a game as she felt like she looked like an elf or fairy. She confirmed her suspicions though by not eating, despite the pleas in her stomach. If it were real life, her body would start to deteriorate, but she looked healthy and fine in her reflection.

Originally she was trying to count the days, but she realized something was off about the time passing, it seemed different. So she instead counted the meals as they came, three meals equaled one day. That put her in this world for a total of ten days. No one had said a word to her, and she was felt like she was about to go stir crazy. She needed her Kiritio, no her Kazuto. She needed to know he was okay, or if he was here in this world with her. He was all she could think about.

She let her head drop to her knees. She had told herself she wasn't going to cry, but it was getting harder and harder to keep that promise.

"Oh, sweetheart don't look so down." Came a voice that made her skin crawl. She looked up saw a man with a crown on his head dressed in an extravagant robe. His long blonde hair fell over his shoulders, and for the most part he looked like a noble lord. But his eyes were filled with a dark intent and seemed hungry to Asuna.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The man feigned a shocked expression. "Why you don't recognize your own betrothed?" He answered and took on a sinister sneer. "We'll definitely have to fix that."


	4. Chapter 4

**This will not happen often, but as I was a little behind schedule I went ahead and wrote another chapter this week.**

 **So I'm going to be trying to take this story in a completely different route than the original took as I was not a huge fan of the Fairy Dance Arc. If you all just hang with me for a bit longer, I'm going to get into some more action, I just have to get the stakes set up. Asuna will not be a true damsel in distress as she is far too badass for that and we all know it. She will play a very active role in this story, but not quite yet. I hope the story is enjoyable so far even if a lot of it is just setup right now.**

 **I appreciate reviews and I'm trying to do my best to respond to them individually when I can.**

 **I do not own Sword Art Online.**

 **Ch. 4**

 **Asuna**

Kazuto struggled as he finished another repetition of his weights. His arms were screaming at him, but he felt successful at the very least. He was making good progress. It had been two and a half weeks since he had woken up and although he was still far from being back to his normal self, he had progressed quick enough to be able to move on crutches for short periods of time, with no help needed.

"How are you feeling after that set?" Sugu asked him as she walked in and handed him a glass of water.

After taking a long drink he replied, "I was able to do ten in a row so I'm not feeling to bad about it."

Sugu nodded her head, "That's actually great!"

Kazuto chuckled. "It would be if I weren't still using five pound weights. I mean seriously, I was weak before I went into SAO, but this is just awful."

Sugu laughed, "Well look at the bright side, being weak before means you don't have to try very hard to catch back up, right?"

"Real funny, Sugu."

"I'm just looking at the bright side is all." She said while mocking an innocent shrug. "But seriously, my friends sister was also stuck in the game. She said she was just now able to start her standing exercises for physical therapy and you're already walking yourself half the time."

"On crutches." Kazuto replied to which Sugu just rolled her eyes.

"All I'm saying is that you should be proud of all the progress you're making."

Kazuto nodded his head. "Thanks…" He looked over at his crutches and imagined how long it would take before he could walk freely again. Then it dawned on him exactly what Suguha had said. "I didn't know you knew someone else had been stuck in SAO."

Sugu looked surprised for a moment. "Oh, I don't know her really, just her sister. We actually met at the hospital about a week after you got stuck in the game."

"Well, at least you made a friend out of all that." Kazuto tried joking.

"Yeah, I guess…" Sugu replied without catching the joke. "I wonder if you'd know her, their last name Shinozaki…I think her name was Ri-uh Rika?"

Kazuto shook his head. "Even if I did know her, we didn't use our real names," he started, "…at least, most of us didn't."

The way he said the last part of the sentence made Sugu realize he had to be talking about "her" again. She still didn't know a name, but Kazuto had been talking about her a lot more, and it was some of the only times that Sugu got to hear about his time in SAO. She hadn't gathered much cause he still left out a lot of details, but she knew that she was apparently a good cook, beautiful (at least that's how Kazuto described her), kind, and incredible. Although he still hadn't come out and said it, the way he got a smile on his face every time he told Sugu about her made it obvious that he was in love with her. It made her happy to know her brother hadn't been all alone, but it also broke her heart to know that he blamed himself for her not making it.

Because she was sure that's who he was talking about, Sugu went ahead and asked, "She went by her real name then? How'd you find that out?" It was such a casual way to ask a question she knew had a very deep personal meaning to Kazuto, but she wanted to know more.

Kazuto was quiet for a long time and for a second it seemed like he wouldn't answer her, but finally he said, "She told me towards the end. She wanted to know my name too."

Sugu felt her heart skip a beat when he answered. He was willing to talk about it after all. "I thought that was looked down upon in MMO's. IRL stuff is supposed to stay separate."

Kazuto gave her a questioning glance. "I didn't know you were so familiar with the rules associated with online gaming."

"A story for another time, I promise." Sugu said dismissively. "Why would she ask such a personal question?"

Again Kazuto was quiet as he just stared at his water. Finally, "In a normal game you play to escape reality, you're role playing as someone else so its frowned upon when people ask or bring up things in real life. It shatters the fantasy. But for us, SAO wasn't a fantasy realm we weren't just role playing. It became our life."

"Right, but you said that you all still used your player names instead of your real names right? So you still stuck to that rule."

"Yeah we did. Maybe it was because that's what we were listed as, or that's what people would always see us as, but sometimes people who got close would share details about their real life. Friends would make plans to meet one another IRL when we finally escaped and stuff like that." Kazuto scratched his head as if he was uncomfortable. "We got real close, and so she asked me."

Sugu nodded her head. She still wasn't satisfied though, she wanted him to just go ahead and say it. "How close were you two? I think I already know based on everything you've told me, but I just want to hear it."

Kazuto chuckled lightly. "I'm not good talking about feelings, Sugu."

"Well it seems to me like you're not telling the whole story and I'm not sure she would like that, would she?"

Kazuto's chuckle turned in to a laugh before it finally died down. When he looked at Sugu again he had tears in his eyes. "No, she wouldn't have it." He wiped the tears away and took a deep breath. "We got married in the game. We lived together, fought together…she basically became everything to me."

Sugu nodded her head in understanding. She knew he had loved her, but she hadn't known that it was made official in the game. But after hearing that she finally understood why he was so hurt by losing her like he did. "I'm sorry you lost her, Kazuto. I really am. I would've liked to have met her. She sounds like she was great."

"She's amazing."

Sugu smiled sadly. "So you all had made plans to meet up IRL when the game was beat? That's why you exchanged your names and everything right?"

"No." Kazuto said, shocking Sugu.

"No?"

"The game was beat early at floor 75 instead of 100. We thought we had more time, and it all happened so fast. We only told our names at the very end…before." Kazuto looked away. Sugu felt like her heart was being ripped apart just seeing him like this. "She said she wanted to know the name of the man she fell in love with."

Sugu didn't know what to say to that. It was more tragic than she had originally thought.

"Sugu, its killing me…everyday I sit here and wonder-"

"Kazuto, you can't beat yourself up over it, she made her decision and she wouldn't want you to feel-"

"She's not dead."

Sugu sat in stunned silence. When she was finally sure she heard him right she shouted, "What do you mean she's not dead? You said she took a hit meant for you! We have to find her! You need to-"

"She did take a hit for me, and she did die in the game…but she's not dead yet." Sugu sat in silence again. "It's complicated, but basically we both died, even after she saved me."

"What?"

"It happened at the very end, when the game was beat. Apparently because of that we were counted among those that survived."

"You both died…at the very end?"

"…Yeah."

"But how do you know she survived?" Sugu asked still unsure.

"You remember that agent that was talking to me before you guys could come and see me?" Kazuto asked. Sugu nodded. "He asked me some questions. He told me she was still asleep, along with 300 other players. They still haven't woken up."

Realization dawned on her now, making her feel like she completely understood her brother's situation for the first time. "There's still a chance for her then?" She asked hopeful.

"Yeah, she does. They all do. But…she's somewhere I can't reach, somewhere I can't help her."

Sugu nodded in understanding. "I get it, Kazuto. I do. But is there any way you could go see her? We could go check on her, or something, right?"

"The agent was supposed to try and arrange it so that I could visit her, but he needs her parents' permission first. I'm just waiting for him to tell me whether I can see her or not." Kazuto let his head drop. "I miss her, Sugu."

Suguha walked over and wrapped him in a hug. "She was a strong woman wasn't she?" Kazuto nodded. "Then have faith that she'll be okay, wherever she is. She'll make it back."

Asuna had her eyes closed and was trying to lull herself to sleep despite it being bright and sunny in the game. She was trying to keep her body in sync with the real world as best as she could. She was just about asleep when she heard footsteps approaching. In an instant she was on her feet and standing in a fighting position with her hands up to guard.

The man that had claimed to be her fiancé last week stood on the other side of the cage. "Tsk, tsk, what am I to do with you Asuna. So fiery and full of spunk, it gets me so excited. Won't you let me come in there and calm you down?"

"Burn in hell, Oberon." Asuna spat back at him.

Oberon just laughed. "Now, now my sweet, that's Fairy King Oberon…or my love, my king…" Oberon licked his lips, "my master."

Asuna felt a chill run down her spine. "Not a chance."

Oberon waved his hand lazily at her. "You say that now, but eventually you'll change your mind."

"You keep holding on to that fantasy of yours you sick pig."

"Asuna, my dear you've no idea the situation you're in. My fantasy _WILL_ become your reality. I am a god in this world and I will become a god in the other world." He held his hands up to the sky and laughed. "It is only a matter of time, my research is progressing steadily."

Asuna felt her heart skip a beat. As much as she hated this Oberon, she still had no idea what was going on, and he seemed to be on the verge of giving her a hint. She needed him to keep going. "You think some research is going to make me fall for a monster like you. Not a chance in-"

"Hell, yes you've said that already. Many times actually, it's beginning to lose its comedy." Oberon turned back to her and ran his fingers over the cage. "But you see, you will love me, I will make it so. In this world and then the real world." With that he turned around and began walking away.

Asuna ran to the side of the cage he had been standing on. She grabbed the cage's bars and shouted, "You can't make me do that. You can't make me feel love for you."

"Not yet, no. But soon. You'll see." And with that he disappeared from her view.

Asuna backed away from her cage and sat on the bed. She felt tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She hated being so helpless, cause she was not a helpless person. And she didn't understand what Oberon was talking about, but for some reason she felt that there was truth in his threat. She didn't know how he could make her do anything, especially love him when she already loved Kazuto, but something told her it was a real threat. She needed to figure out what was going on and come up with some sort of plan.

"Dammit!" Rika (Lisbeth) cursed as she fell back into the chair.

"Hey, that was a whole minute, Rika. Don't be so upset about it." Rika's little sister, Makiko, said.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's struggling to stand for more than a minute or two by herself." Rika responded aggravated.

"Relax, Rika. You'll get there. I promise. It just takes time."

Rika let out an exasperated breath. "Yeah and in the meantime I'll just be a useless piece of-"

"Makiko, your friend is here!" Their mother shouted.

Makiko smiled and stood up. "Just send her in here, please." A moment later Suguha Kirigaya walked into the room. She smiled warmly at Makiko and gave her a hug. Then she truned to Rika and waved.

"You must be Rika?" Sugu said.

"Yeah, that's me." Rika said annoyed.

"I'm Suguha Kirigaya, its nice to-"

"Yeah, you too. Look I'm a bit busy being-"

"Don't mind her, she's just a little frustrated with the recuperation process, Sugu." Makiko interrupted.

"You don't have to apologize to me, my brother gets so frustrated sometimes that I think he's going to end up hurting himself and taking even longer to heal." Sugu said laughing Rika's attitude off.

Makiko lit up. "How is your brother doing? I know you said he was really pushing himself." Makiko turned to Rika and added, "Her brother was in SAO too you know?"

Rika's mood instantly changed at hearing this news. Sugu said, "He's actually walking with crutches around the house, and he started trying to lift some small weights too."

"What?" Rika asked shocked. "How the hell is he already walking?"

Sugu and Makiko were both shocked by Rika's outburst, but Sugu answered, "He's just really pushing himself. I think it has to do with…something personal that happened in the game."

Rika was quiet as she took in the look on Sugu's face. She instantly felt bad as she could only assume it wasn't a happy experience that was driving Sugu's brother to push so hard. "Wasn't much of a game to a lot of people, was it?" was all she said.

Sugu picked up on Rika's understanding though. "No, it wasn't."

Makiko gestured for Sugu to sit down and then she herself joined her. "It is good that he's recovering so quickly though. What did you say his name was? Maybe Rika knew him?" Makiko asked.

Sugu shook her head. "His real name is Kazuto Kirigaya, but I don't know his in game name. Never asked. I doubt you know him by that, do you?" She asked Rika.

"No, never heard that name before…but," Rika sat there for a moment and racked her brain trying to figure out what seemed familiar about that name. "Do you know anything about what your brother did in the game? I feel like I should know him…Kazuto…Kirigaya."

Sugu shook her head shyly. "No I'm sorry, I don't know much about what life was like for him in the game. We don't talk about it much."

"You can't tell me anything?" Rika asked feeling like curiosity inside her would destroy her mind if she couldn't figure it out.

"I mean, not things that I feel like I should say to someone without his permission." Sugu replied.

"Don't push her for answers, Rika." Makiko said, with a stern motherly tone, despite being the younger sister.

"Was he a front line player?" Rika said ignoring her sister's comment.

"Rika!?"

"Uhm, I really don't know." Sugu said. She reached up and scratched the back of her head in a nervous gesture and Rika felt like she had seen that before. Then it hit her.

"Kazuto Kirigaya…Kirigaya, Kazuto...Kiri-to? Kirito? KIRITO!" She shouted in recognition. "Your brother was Kirito wasn't he?"

10


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay everyone, its been a bit hectic with the holidays and graduation, and moving, and the list continues on and on. But enough of that, we finally have another chapter. Its a little short and not much action, but the next chapter is going to be full of some awkward moments between Kazuto and Mr. Yuuki. On top of that, we'll have a lot of action on Asuna's end, so hopefully you all look forward to that. Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks.**

 **I don't own SAO.**

 **Ch. 5**

 **Kirito**

"I can come and see her!" Kazuto said excitedly into the phone.

"Yes…in a manner of speaking. Her father wants to speak with you before he lets you see her…" Kikuoka's voice replied from the other end.

Kazuto nodded his head rapidly before he realized that the agent couldn't see him through the phone. "Right, yeah. Whatever he wants from me, I just need to see her."

"Kirigaya, I'm just wanting to give you a friendly warning, her father does not hold you in very high regards. This meeting might not go well."

"I know he might blame me for her condition, but-"

"No, its not so much that. Mr. Yuuki is a very reasonable man. He understands the situation his daughter is in had nothing to do with you as far as we can tell."

"Then why would he-"

"He's aware of your and the young miss Yuuki's relationship, your sleeping arrangements, and…well any other activities that might have shown up in the player logs…like disabling some restrictions…"

Kazuto's face got blood red as he realized what Kikuoka was implying. Of course Asuna's father was already going to be against him if he knew all that. He suddenly felt terrified, he didn't know how he was going to go through with meeting Mr. Yuuki, but he also knew there was no getting around it if he wanted to see Asuna. "I'll talk to him about whatever he wants…I just need to see her."

"Very well, I'll arrange a meeting for the two of you then. I'll send you the details later." Kikuoka replied.

"Thank you." Kazuto said. He put his phone down and allowed himself a smile. "Oh Asuna, your dad really is going to kill me." He chuckled to himself.

A few minutes later, and with a great deal of effort, Kazuto had made it down the steps back to the living room. He was just sitting down on the couch when his adoptive mother stepped in the room.

"Kazuto, uhm I just wanted to give you a heads up, apparently Suguha is bringing her friend and her friends sister over." She said, fearing his reaction.

"The SAO survivor? I really don't want-"

"Suguha said this girl would not take no for an answer."

Kazuto just simply sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide from the entire incident forever. Eventually he'd run into another SAO survivor who at least knew about him. He just wasn't prepared for it to happen so early on. He could only hope this person didn't know much about him, he wasn't prepared for his family to hear about everything.

Sugu was a nervous wreck. She knew her brother wouldn't like her bringing Rika and Makiko back to their home, but Rika had been so adamant about it that she really didn't have a choice. Makiko and their mother had both tried to talk Rika out of it, but the girl wouldn't accept no for an answer. She said she had to know if Kazuto was the player known as Kirito. Sugu had a suspicion that he might very well be, the name just appeared to be a combination of his first and last name, and Rika had said it clicked when Sugu had rubbed the back of her neck, the same gesture Kirito always did when he was nervous. Sugu knew Kazuto did it all the time, she was halfway sure that he was the one she had picked it up from.

Other than the name, Rika had not mentioned much about Kirito, or asked much about Kazuto himself. She seemed to be struggling with her own thoughts and Sugu couldn't quite pin what could be going through her head. Was it even a good idea to bring Rika? What if she had hated Kirito? Would she hate Kazuto? What if they weren't even the same person? Would her brother be mad at her? There was so much that Sugu was worried about that she didn't even realize when the cab pulled into her driveway.

"C'mon help me get that stupid wheelchair." Rika said to Makiko and Sugu. Makiko gave Sugu a worried look and mouthed and apology before getting out and helping get Rika's wheel chair out of the taxi. Sugu just looked at her house and took a deep breath preparing herself what was bound to be a long night.

Once they were out of the cab, Sugu and Makiko helped get Rika to the front door. Sugu took a moment before opening it. "Look, my brother hasn't really been talking about the entire incident since he's been back, so regardless of if he's this Kirito or not, please take it easy on him."

Rika nodded. "I just need to know what happened…and to make sure he made it out okay."

Sugu nodded and opened up the door. Kazuto was in the middle of lifting his weights when he looked up. Sugu was standing in the doorway between Kazuto and Rika so they hadn't seen each other. Sugu saw her brother take in a deep breath before he grabbed his crutches and pulled himself into a standing position. As soon as he was up, Sugu stepped out of the way and Makiko pushed Rika through the door. Sugu was watching her brother wondering if there would be a reaction, but she was shocked when the moment he saw Rika at the recognition that flashed in his eyes.

"Liz?" Kazuto asked in disbelief. Sugu quickly looked at Rika and was even more surprised to find tears filling the woman's eyes.

"Kirito…" She whispered. Then Rika struggled to stand up and take a step before Makiko or Sugu could stop her. Rika stumbled forward and Sugu was sure she'd fall before anyone could get to her, but she was shocked again when Kazuto seemed to appear out of nowhere and catch her. Her brother grimaced in pain and nearly fell himself, but he somehow managed to hold them both up with only one of his crutches.

Rika wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Kazuto was hesitant for a moment before using his freehand to hug her back.

Sugu was too stunned to do anything, but luckily Makiko was already moving. The young girl pushed the wheelchair up and eased Rika back into it, releasing Kazuto from the burden of supporting both of them. Sugu quickly rushed over to help ease her brother back on to the couch as well.

Sugu was the first to speak up, "So I guess you two did know each other then huh?"

Kazuto laughed and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, Lizbeth here was a good friend of mine, she actually made me my Dark Repulsor."

Sugu laughed a little. "I'll pretend to know what that means."

"It was a sword…a badass sword I might add. Best weapon I ever made." Rika said enthusiastically.

Makiko shared a nervous glance with Suguha. Both girls had discussed how neither one of their siblings had been very forthcoming with information about SAO, they were afraid of everything this conversation might remind them about.

Makiko decided to interject and shift subjects, "Sorry about Rika almost tackling you to the ground. That was a little irresponsible of her." She tried to joke.

Kazuto just waved it off. "Don't worry, not the first time I had to run and catch her." He teased.

"I never asked you to jump in after me." Rika responded with a pout on her face.

"If I didn't you wouldn't have ever made it back out."

"Or maybe you could've finished off the dragon and then thrown me a rope or something?" Rika said accusingly.

Kazuto had a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment he simply replied, "Yeah, that might have worked, but that's assuming you could take the fall. I didn't know how deep it was, so-"

"So you just dove in taking a chance on letting us both die instead." Rika said with a smirk. Kazuto held his head down bashfully. "Honestly, Kirito, always taking care of everyone else, even when it puts you in danger."

Sugu had been quiet during their entire exchange, and even though it was short she felt like it was a whirlwind of information. One, according to Rika her brother had been someone who tried to take care of everyone else. Two, they certainly did know one another because they seemed to talk easily and had shared stories. The third thing she realized was that Kazuto instantly shut down the moment Rika had said that he took care of everyone else, and Sugu knew it had to be about his in game wife who still hadn't made it back.

"So…Rika you made swords in SAO?" Makiko spoke up. Sugu had forgotten that this must all be new information about SAO for her too.

Rika smirked with confidence. "I was arguably the best blacksmith in all of SAO!"

Makiko chuckled, "Oh I'm sure you were the best, no one could possibly make better weapons than my sister after all." She teased.

Sugu and Kazuto had to laugh at Rika's face. Rika simply stared them all down. "Laugh all you want but in the end I made weapons for two of the most powerful player in the game."

Makiko laughed even harder. "Kazuto right? Can you back up my sisters crazy claims?"

Before Kazuto could even respond Rika jumped back in, "Of course he can, he just told you I made his Dark Repulsor, and I already said it was the best weapon I ever made."

"So according to you, my brother was one of the best players in SAO then, huh?" Sugu said jokingly as she patted Kazuto's shoulder. She felt her smile begin to drop though with the seriousness of Rika's expression.

"How did you do it?" Rika asked Kazuto out of the blue. Sugu and Makiko both looked unsure at the sudden seriousness.

"What do you mean?" Kazuto asked without meeting Rika's eyes.

"Don't play dumb, we were only on floor 75. We had 25 more to go. No one else could've possibly done something so insane as to beat the game that early except for the Kirito. What happened? Last I had heard the front line players were going to tackle the 75th boss room. I knew you and Asuna would have to go, and I was worried sick. Then the next thing we know we're all getting an announcement that the game has been beat."

Suguha felt a few things click into place. Kazuto said he and his in game wife had died at the very end. At first Sugu had just been thankful for the perfect timing that it happened right when the game had been beat, but if what Rika said about Kazuto being one of the best players then it made more sense for him to have died beating the game. And was Asuna his wife? Rika had mentioned her so casually that they both had to know her. That had to be her.

There was just silence in the room as the three girls stared at Kazuto. He didn't speak at first but he finally looked up and said, "The 75th boss fight was a massacre. We lost 14 players beating it."

Rika's hands came to cover her mouth in shock. Sugu didn't understand at first, 14 deaths in a boss fight wasn't bad at all…until she remembered that this wasn't just a game, 14 dead were 14 real people dead. "We hadn't lost that many in a boss fight since floor 50…" Rika said, tears pricking her eyes.

Kazuto just nodded. "The boss was insane, even dual wielding I couldn't block even one of its scythes. In the end, Asuna and I worked together to block one of the scythes and Heathcliff blocked the other. Everyone else attacked it from its flanks." Kazuto rubbed his temples. "In the end we did beat it, but the battle took forever and we were all exhausted. There was no celebration, no congratulations, we simply sat there. I looked at everyone's health. Most were red, some like Asuna and me were still yellow, but Heathcliff's-"

"Was still green? Of course it was, that's the commander of the KOB for you. After all he even managed to beat you in a one on one." Rika said.

Kazuto nodded. "He was still in the green. No one had ever seen the commanders health dip below into yellow. And after the battle we just went through I found it hard to believe. Then I thought back to when we had our duel. I thought for sure I had him, but then he moved so fast, faster than I ever thought possible, even in the game. He was still standing tall, even while the rest of us were exhausted. But the look on his face…it wasn't the look of a commander, it was the look of a ruler…"

"Wait…are you saying that commander Heathcliff was…no that couldn't have been?"

"I kept trying to tell myself that too, but I couldn't get past it. In the end, I attacked him before anyone could do anything." Kazuto said simply.

Sugu might not have been in the game, but judging from the way Rika kept calling this Heathcliff the commander he sounded like he was in charge and looked up to, so Kazuto attacking him was risking a great deal. "But what happened?" Sugu asked, encouraging Kazuto to finish.

"Where my sword should have hit him it just stopped against a purple barrier. It said 'Immortal Object'."

"What does that mean?" Makiko asked.

"It means that the bastard who was pretending to be one of us was protected by the system the entire time. He couldn't be beat." Rika answered. Sugu felt the anger and malice radiating from the girl and she realized how deep a betrayal that must have been to all those players there.

"We basically had a conversation in front of everyone where I called him out as Kayaba. He told us all he was planning on revealing it to everyone on the 90th floor and he was going to be the 100th floor boss."

"Asshole!" Rika shouted in anger. "There were so many people that looked up to him!"

"But still, how did the game end?" Makiko asked unsure of herself. "Why didn't he just leave for the 100th floor early?"

"He was going to, but since I figured him out he offered me a choice. He paralyzed all of the other players and told me I could fight him one on one with him being at his full power, or he would leave and let the game continue as planned."

"And you fought him?" Sugu asked horrified. She knew in the end he died, even if he somehow beat the game in doing so.

"I had to. The game wasn't getting easier, it was only getting harder. Another 25 floors could've meant thousands of more deaths. I had to at least try."

"But you clearly beat him, cause we're standing here talking." Rika said. Sugu knew the story was only about to get darker.

"Kayaba had created the game, he knew all the combos, even for my dual wielding, so I struggled against him. He used sword skills I'd never seen before. And when I got him down to the last health bar he made it where he had no post motion delay after using his sword skills."

"How is that even fair?" Rika asked angrily.

"He was supposed to fight a group so I guess in that sense it was fair. One on one I didn't really stand a chance at that point, but everyone else was still paralyzed. Or at least we thought. Kayaba ended up destroying my Elucidator and took advantage of the moment. He was going in for the final strike when…" Kazuto gripped his fist so tightly that Sugu was worried he might draw blood. "Asuna-she overrode the system somehow. She jumped between me and Kayaba and he hit her instead."

Again, silence filled the room. Rika had tears flowing down her face, but even Makiko and Sugu had tears that they were trying to hold back. "Asuna…she-"

"When she disappeared all Kayaba did was laugh and say how extraordinary the event was and how he would study her player log carefully later. I was…I was beyond mad. So I attacked, again and again. I was winning and then he used another one of his personal sword skills to nearly kill us both. Without his post motion delay, he was already getting another strike ready, and my health was so low that I knew it was impossible for me to survive another attack. So I charged him with Asuna's rapier. I used flashing penetrator to close the distance and hit him before just as his sword skill went off. The shockwave took us both out."

"So you died too then?" Makiko asked.

"Yeah, I died."

"But how are you still alive then?" Rika asked. "No one else who died in the game made it out alive."

"When all the other players were logged out, I just found myself on a floating platform in the clouds. I had no idea how I got there, and at first I thought maybe I was dead and in the afterlife, but then I was able to pull up the menu for SAO. I was confused for a moment, but then Asuna called out-"

"So Asuna made it out too then, right? If she was still there with you then she had to, right?" Rika said desperately.

"Kayaba came and talked to us both. He congratulated us on beating the game, but at the time we just thought he was giving us a moment to talk to us before we died for good. Then I woke up in the hospital."

"But what about Asuna? I know her, she would have told you some way of finding her, she loved you too much not to." Rika said.

Kazuto closed his eyes and a few tears made it down his face. "She's alive…but she isn't back yet?"

Rika seemed completely confused by this. "How can she be alive but not back? Kirito, that doesn't-"

"Apparently 300 players haven't woke up yet." Sugu interjected and put a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder. She knew all of this talking was hard on him, so she figured the least she could do was tell them at least what she knew and save him from having to continue. "Asuna is one of them. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is looking into it as much as they can, but right now they don't have much to go on."

Rika nodded her head in understanding. "I'm sorry, Kirito. I know that has to be hard on you." Kazuto just nodded his head in agreement, not trusting himself to say anything else cause he'd start crying in front of everyone. "Have you at least been able to find her? To go see her at least?"

Kazuto nodded. "I just got a call tonight to schedule a time…but…" Kazuto reached for his crutches and stood up. When he looked up at everyone else in the room he had a smile, but everyone knew it was only a front. "It was really good to see you Liz. I'll stay in contact and definitely come and see you…and keep you updated about…about Asuna. But I think I need to go on to bed." He hobbled over to Rika in her chair and gave her a hug.

"She's strong, Kirito. She'll be okay." Sugu heard Rika whisper.

Kazuto nodded at all the girls. "It was nice to meet you Makiko. Goodnight to you, Liz, and Sugu." With that, Kazuto headed up the steps. Sugu could just make out the glistening of tears on his cheeks before he disappeared from their sight.

The room was dead quiet for a few minutes after he left. Rika was the first to finally break the silence. "I'm sorry for rushing over here like that. I should have been more thoughtful."

Sugu shook her head. "You couldn't have known about any of that. I didn't know most of it myself." She said reassuringly.

"I just wanted to see if he really was Kirito. I needed to know he made it out of the game too." Rika said.

"Can you…can you tell me about him? What he was like in SAO?" Sugu asked.

Rika just smiled. "Of course. I don't think you realize how great of a person your big brother-"

"Can you also tell me about Asuna?"

This time Rika seemed a little shocked. "Has he not talked much about her?" She asked hesitantly.

"He gets tore up every time he mentions anything about her. She sounded great, and I…I just want to know what kind of person she was too…"

Rika just nodded her head and her smile returned. "What all do you want to know."

"Everything."

12


End file.
